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Khairy rebukes 'sad and petty' Mahathir
Published:  Jan 4, 2018 5:00 PM
Updated: 10:19 AM

Dr Mahathir Mohamad's claim that Putrajaya's national transformation plan 2050 (TN50) had copied his own Vision 2020 earned him a reprimand from Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

Khairy said he found it sad and disappointing that the former premier had dismissed the collective aspirations of young Malaysians.

“TN50 is the voice of young Malaysians, for their future. Millions have come forward to share their hopes, dreams and aspirations to build the future, together.

“But for you, it is just about your personal legacy. It has been reduced to Vision 2020 vs TN50. How sad. And how petty.

“I have explained countless times in great detail how both are part of the grand narrative of the Malaysian story. A continuum of success and development. But for you, it is all about your legacy. Me, myself, Mahathir," he added in a media statement today.

Khairy, who is also Umno Youth chief, said he hopes future generations of Malaysia would not be so vindictive and mean-spirited.

“That they will be gracious and magnanimous enough to support that which deserves support and give credit where it is due.

"It is only with that spirit of munificence that we will become a great civilisation,” he added.

Yesterday, Mahathir claimed that TN50 was the government's admission that it failed to deliver on his Vision 2020.

“But TN50 is a fair copy (of Vision 2020) and their admission is that they need another 32 years before they can accomplish TN50,” he said.

Khairy, however, denied that TN50 was a copy of Vision 2020, pointing out that it was instead a continuation of long-term plans.

“Because Vision 2020 will end in 2020, we need a new aspiration which takes into account latest developments that did not exist when Vision 2020 was introduced.

“Is Mahathir of the opinion that we no longer need long-term plans and new aspirations to move the country forward?”

Khairy reiterated that a major difference between TN50 and Vision 2020 was its approach and implementation, in which the former is a bottom-up approach which takes into account the aspirations of the people while the latter was a top-down vision announced by Mahathir in a speech in 1991.

The minister also said that it was not true that Vision 2020 has failed as Malaysia is on track to become a high-income nation as early as 2020, which was a clear target of Vision 2020.

He also denied that TN50 was being used to deflect the rakyat’s focus from Vision 2020.

“In all TN50 dialogues, I always mention that TN50 is a continuation of long-term plans such as the New Economic Policy and Vision 2020. I have never denied Vision 2020.

“Although I don’t agree with Mahathir’s various policies and approaches during his time as prime minister, Vision 2020 is one thing that I agree with and am supportive of,” he said.

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